A start dominated by Dongfeng Race Team
The start of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race was given on Sunday 22nd October 2017 from Alicante in Spain. The seven competing teams left the Spanish city at 14:00, in a breeze of more than 15 knots, and the spectacle was there for the public to see. It was a suspenseful start and a constant battle during the 50 minutes of the inaugural race in Alicante in a good 15-20 knot easterly breeze, before heading south to the Cabo de Gâta.
MAPFRE once again made the best start to the left of the line, but was quickly overtaken by the Franco-Chinese crew of the Dongfeng Race. Passing into the lead at the second of the five marks on the course, Charles Caudrelier and his crew - who had taken Franck Cammas (guest "Leg Jumper"), the winning skipper of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 at the helm of Groupama 4, on board during this start phase - never let go of the controls of this preliminary course. Indeed they managed to push MAPFRE and Team Brunel to the limit during a fifth tack at very high intensity, as the two boats were penalised and forced to turn around on themselves for a lack of priority.
After this final downwind leg at an average speed of over 15 knots, Dongfeng Race Team crossed the final mark in front of the port of Alicante with a 23-second lead over Vestas 11th Hour Racing (Charlie Enright), 34 on Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (David Witt), 41 on Turn the Tide on Plastic (Dee Caffari), 1'16 on MAPFRE (Xabi Fernandez), 1'58 on Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking), while AkzoNobel closed the gap.
The crew change at the last moment was also noteworthy, as Simeon Tienpont claimed an arbitration last Friday which was favourable to him, hence his return to the helm of the Dutch VO 65, on board which also took place the Portuguese Antonio Fontes, "on loan" from Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag.
Different crew compositions
As allowed by the new race regulations, the crewing configurations were also different according to the boats, with 10 people on Turn the Tide on Plastic (5 men/5 women), 9 on Dongfeng Race Team, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Team Brunel and MAPFRE (7 men/2 women), 8 on Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (7 men/1 woman) and AkzoNobel (6 men, 2 women). In total, 62 sailors who, at the end of this spectacular preliminary course, set off south-westwards, amidst numerous passenger launches, some of which were shaved by the VO 65s launched at almost 20 knots!
The weather looks set to be favourable with a fairly well-established NE'ly wind which should enable the Cabo de Gata, 150 miles from Alicante, to be overtaken around midnight Sunday evening, then to enter the Straits of Gibraltar in 24 hours, with 30 knots of easterly wind forecast as they leave the Mediterranean for the Atlantic. The seven competitors will then set a course for the island of Porto Santo, to the north of the Madeira archipelago, where the wind is set to ease off, before heading upwind, downwind at first, before finishing off towards Lisbon, the end of this first 1450 mile leg where the frontrunners are expected next Saturday.
